





The Work and 
the Workers 


OF THE 


BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 
OF THE 


METHODIST EPISCOPAL 
CHURCH 


A Guide for Missionary Candidates 


Published at the Mission Rooms, 150 Fifth Avenue 
New York, 1907 





rr 
fi 


; Spek 
ite = ; 





CONTENTS. 


{. Tuer Mission, PAGE 
The Mission of Christ...... aisheretereie sve eiacsr ciel state RR AD 
The Gospel for All........... AOR CRORE EOEOOnE 6 

II. THe Missionary. 
His Mission,...... Perl ekeleible'eiemlerdie ae dclole aleeteeists <ayeeest 
Hist @ alin rama kee cra cis crevetclocelerotie'e at evel sar eietaystere 7 
Three Notable Calle eno vc stsisecereis o's ois. ciole: sie si eiels ore 8 
ANCL AMIE Cot ep gaiue aoangCoe due NBA DS OObC 9 
Making Surestho, Callies setctdtctetetoce esate set crore oh elerd 10 
HUISEQualiicationsh vere diterveais cle cfd-sere ee eevee clot ste 10 
A’ Relisious Experience...) -))-esccsscsereseccns 10 
Sound. Common Sense iwaniseotecew octets es cists aeie were 11 
NaturaleA bilities acre acca toletcheteltelerec ict ay eral ster ska n ¢ 11 
MentalT raining s, sraccumis eisiene acorn -tetatietoiereeen eee 11 
A Sound Body Indispensable. .........eceeeccces 12 
‘A DlertonvWorks with: Others cus enverie tt se asia e els 12 
Other, Points vistors sever eceais wale Gener a sictael oats 12 
HUmMIifyrotires creistesisreie eta orctales fe catete 3d oo eveve 13 
Marri OF INGO. rec doata se ulsiat sess Chane yw eae 13 
BamilyiDieg.ttcels oa reece a ceistete’s alot sieve eared lei at cls rer 13 
Agra Candidaten, oacjtrc cis cacleats cles oa det ae cates 14 
How to Make Application...... siolarsieie) sce) ei sleteretel cre 14 
The Examinations.......... eistnis oi elsie’sinialeieneieyeiet ot 14 
Acceptance of Candidates........... etaeierel stesso 15 
Right of Selection..... Joobudcldoctrecouncnee bees 15 


III. Tue Missionary Socrery. 
Rte Origs rand PUrpore,.c..secsecicddeees's «ceva LO 
EtG MISSIONS: he sierccere Soi cistate D ahdle Siaieastta or nitel een ates 16 


4 CONTENTS. 


The Home! Field Pay.ccscsec cece. aicgeniie's, ee le arereiere 
The General Missionary Committee......... Sbonac 
The Board of Managers..< <5... <0 .1c 6s msi eeicietate 
The: Officers: S.veepectttetecce eters Siotalaroteteere eioh oekeree 
How Missionaries are Appointed.............+2- 
Salaries of Missionaries on the Field.............. 
Home'Salariess itis heeccee ccs ch hie teats 


Amount of Freight Allowed.......:...........-- 
What the Missionary Should Take................ 
Rules Concerning Furloughs..................-«+ 


IV. Tue Missionary Fiexp. 
The Various Missions inci ..cs-lcen cae a2 oielelele 
The Populations of the Fields................... 
The heligious Beliets 7. case cnes aol ss et erie eee 
The Languages in the Several Missions............ 
Phe: Chinese Dialects yams esate crtelestele sie sisi eVelels este 
ThevLanguases, ofp lidiasecceietacie sae shee epee 
The Climatevof the Bields)1. <.1.1,j:steis « elsicie este hells 


V. Tuer Missronary SERVICE. 
Nobilityof: the: Service. csnis seria oieieeins aie cea tsiote 
Greatness.of the Causes a2.acn< samiccaemrnine sie cetere 
Tribute by President Harrison................00. 
President McKinley on Missionaries............ oe 
Missionaries the World’s Heroes............. SHIOC 
Kinds\of Servicesccs sa sacar setae acterote 
Evangelists......... SinoubhBh ohinhbotiodconc cece 
Teachers sre Sait.c cited cack eee ei eute'n felaile Waters Misia sc 
Medical! Missionaries: 2:.:..c.ccsiertis sist bie cinielerslote 
Prinh@rs sfosercvorsicieicls isfoie's oo. elecane eters sieteteierteke muetaiadans 
Many-sided Men Required......... Raattion go hood 
The Missionary Life a Busy One.......... mremorate 


The Work and the Workers. 





I. THe Mission. 


THE root idea of the word “mission” is sending or 
sent; the sending of something. Jesus Christ, the 
sent of God, came into the world to save sinners. 
He came on a great mission, the greatest known to 
human kind—to bring the good news of salvation. 
All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. 
_ ,. Through Jesus Christ it is made possible for 

The Mission all to be saved. As the Father sent the Son 

of Christ. into the world and gave Him all power in 
heaven and earth, so also the Son sent His disciples 
into Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and unto 
the uttermost parts of the world to be His “wit- 
nesses.” “Go ye into all the world,” He said,—not 
simply to Jerusalem or through Judea and Samaria, 
but—“into all the world, and preach the Gospel”— 
not alone to Jews wherever you may find them, but 
“to every creature.” All men are sinners; the Gos- 
pel is for all; go and give it to them. This is the 
essence of Christ’s instructions, and His promise 
was added: “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto 
the end of the world.” 

5 


The Gospel 
for All 


6 THE WORK AND THE WORKERS. 


That Christ made no deceptive promise, and of- 
fered no empty gift, Paul established by his positive 
testimony: “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of 
Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to 
every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to 
the Greek,” which testimony has been confirmed by 
innumerable witnesses in all centuries and in all 
countries. 

That the Gospel was for Gentile as well as Jew 
was settled, once and forever, by Peter’s vision on 
the housetop and the miraculous conversion and call 
of Saul to be the apostle to the Gentiles. 

That the Gospel must be preached is involved in 
the Master’s statement, “The Gospel must first 
be published among all nations,” and that it 
must be preached by men to men was the set- 
tled conviction of Paul: “For whosoever shall call 
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How 
then shall they call upon Him in whom they have 
not believed? and how shall they believe in Him 
of whom they have not heard? and how shall they 
hear without a preacher? and how shall they preach, 
except they be sent?” 

So little do some understand God’s way of salva- 
tion as set forth in the Scriptures that they are still 
echoing the thought of the clerical critic of Carey: 
“When God wants the heathen converted He will 
convert them Himself without your aid or mine.” 
Paul’s statement is but another putting of the com- 
mission of Christ: “Go ye into all the world, and 
preach the Gospel to every creature.” For if God 
did not require the cooperation of man in preaching, 
this command would never have been given. 


eo 


His 


Mission. 


Call, 


GUIDE FOR CANDIDATES. 7 


If. THe Missionary. 


The missionary is simply the preacher, or worker, 
sent to a particular field. If that particular field 
lies in his own country, he is called a home mis- 
sionary; if in another country, he is known as a 
foreign missionary. Thus a preacher sent 
from the United States to China is a foreign 
missionary; a preacher laboring among the 
Chinese in the United States is a home missionary. 
The distinction is geographical. The missionary 
differs from the preacher and pastor chiefly in these 
particulars: 

1. His mission is generally to a people having 
little or no Christian atmosphere; 2. He is sup- 
ported in whole or in part by a society organized 
for that purpose. 

The Methodist Episcopal Church holds that there 
is a divine call to the ministry, and that men ought 

not to enter upon this sacred service unless 

they are persuaded they have it. In certain 

other Christian bodies the call to the ministry 
is not distinguished in character or measure from 
a call to be a teacher, a doctor, a lawyer, or a mer- 
chant. But our ministers and people have always 
believed that in some more or less positive way God 
leads those whom he has chosen into the ministry. 
We also believe that men are led of God to the 
missionary field. Is there, then, a divine call to the 
ministry and also a divine call to the missionary 
service, two distinct and separate calls? In some 
instances, yes; but not in all cases. The ministry 
is one and the same calling, whether it be under- 


8 THE WORK AND THE WORKERS. 


taken at home or abroad, in the United States or 
Asia. Sometimes a man is called to be a minister, 
and subsequent circumstances fix his place of labor. 
Occasionally with this call comes a conviction that 
his field of work is to be among the heathen. The 
Holy Spirit does not call all men in the same way 
or to the same work. The conversion of the woman 
who touched the hem of the Saviour’s garment, the 
conversion of Cornelius, and the conversion of Paul 
differ greatly in manner and attending circum- 
stances, but in each case it was divine. 

Bishop Thoburn had his definite call to the min- 
istry after he had been preaching some time. Long 
before he became a minister he was persuaded that 

his place of labor would be in the mission field. 
Three Not- When the way opened for him to go to India 
able Calls. he had scarcely laid the matter before God 
when the answer came. “It was not so much,” he 
says, “a call to India that I received, as an accept- 
ance for India. I did not receive any message, or 
realize any new conviction, and yet that hour stands 
out in my life as the burning bush must have stood 
in the memory of Moses.” 

The Rev. James L. Humphrey, who baptized our 
first convert in India, though greatly interested in 
missions before he was called to the ministry, had 
no thought of entering the foreign field until he 
had been some months in his first pastorate. His 
call, which has always seemed to him “to have been 
sent from heaven,” came during the singing of a 
hymn, “Ye Christian heralds, go, proclaim.” He 
says on the general subject: 

“The call to be a missionary may not be just like 


GuIDE FoR CANDIDATES 9 


a call to the sacred ministry in all of its aspects, 
but it is similar in some of its features at least. In 
a sense it is true that God calls us to every kind of 
work in his vineyard. “The steps of a good man are 
ordered of the Lord.’ ‘And thine ears shall hear a 
word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye 
in it, when ye turn to the right or to the left’? (Isa. 
30. 21). Certainly it is reasonable to suppose that 
there should be a somewhat special call to a great 
special service like this. 

“As a matter of fact, I have never known a suc- 
cessful missionary who did not feel that God as 
certainly called him to this work as he did to the 
ministry. The impression will be made upon the 
mind by the Holy Spirit in some way that we are 
called to it. This impression will be so strong, as 
a rule, that it cannot well be removed. I firmly be- 
lieve God as certainly calls women to this work as 
he does men. It is one of the wonders of the age 
what women are doing for Christ. In addition to 
the impression made upon the mind, other things 
must confirm and sustain it. There must be good, 
firm health, with no special tendency to disease of 
any kind. One must have good natural abilities 
and at least fair attainments. I think special stress 
should be laid upon the importance of good judg- 
ment and tact, ability to master foreign languages 
and to utilize strange environments. The impor- 
tance of these things cannot be overestimated. One 
must know human nature, and how to adapt oneself 
to it. We must know the people to whom we go, 
have sympathy with them, appreciate their feelings 
and difficulties, and be able to see things as they see 


10 THe WorK AND THE WORKERS. 


them. We can never win the people to Christ only 
as we win them to ourselves first, and to this end 
we must gain their confidence, and we can only do 
this by convincing them that we know how things 
appear to them. Knowledge of human nature and 
sanctified common sense are indispensable qualities 
to make a successful missionary. The highest 
literary attainments, while not absolutely necessary 
in every case, will find ample scope for their fullest 
exercise. 
| “Tt is taken for granted that a missionary must 
have grace, a passion for souls, with supreme 
loyalty to God and the Church that sends him out. 
Without these qualities he will fail, whatever other 
attainments he may have.” 
; William Butler, the founder of our Missions in 
India and Mexico, did not, it appears, have a special 
call to the foreign field. He saw Secretary Durbin’s 
3; urgent plea for India, and, waiting vainly some 
months for someone else to volunteer, finally offered 
himself, unwilling longer to refuse the call of the 
Missionary Secretary. His response was to the call 
lof the Church from a sense of obligation to God. 

It is obvious from these eminent examples that 
calls to the missionary service come to different per- 
sons in different ways. Some have the call in as 
definite a form as Saul had; others, devoted to 

. God and loyal to his cause, reach a decision 
The Chief through a strong impression of the urgent 
“Thing. need of workers in the great foreign fields and 
a conviction that they ought to offer themselves. 
The important thing for everyone to settle before 
offering himself as a missionary is that he ought 


GUIDE FoR CANDIDATES. 11 


to go, either because God has called him directly 

and unmistakably, or because he hears the call of 

the Church and feels it to be his solemn duty to 

obey. The call or conviction may be welcome or 

unweleome. The fact that there may be hesitation 

to obey it should not determine its rejection. Bishop 

Thoburn’s impression that his lifework would be in 

the missionary field was not accompanied by the 

feeling that he was needed, or could do a great work 

there, or would like such a life. It was simply a 

clear conviction that this was God’s choice for him. 

It is of first importance that every candidate, lay 

or clerical, female or male, should be fully convinced 

that he or she is called to the work, whatever may 

be the nature of the call, before volunteering, 

because— 

1. The foreign missionary field is no place for an 

experiment. Men are not accepted for it on trial. 

Making Sure The Missionary Society ps every possible 

the Call. opportunity to ascertain t 1e purpose and fit- 

ness of those whom it commissions. If anyone 

is in doubt as to his duty to go, and purposes to come 

back if he does not like it, let him elect to stay at 
home. Such men are not wanted. 

2. It is a lifework. We ask for men and women 
below the age of thirty, that they may be able to 
master difficult languages and give a long service to 
the cause. No one is accepted unless he can promise 
to spend his life in the field. Unless this promise 
ean be honestly given it ought not to be given at 
all; and once given it should be sacredly kept as a 
vow unto the Lord. 

3. It is a life of trial, sacrifice, and difficulties. If 


12 THe Work AND THE WORKERS. 


it be entered on lightly, or in a‘spirit of adventure, 
the shock of contact with the awful solidarity of 
heathenism, the isolation from congenial compan- 
ionship, the disheartening effect and the compara- 
tively meager results of efforts to reform vast masses 
of people steeped in vice, immorality, and ignorance, 
will overcome the timid and unstable and drive him 
to desertion. We want no coward souls at the front 
in far-off fields of battle. 

His Quatrrications. Nothing in the whole list 
can exceed in importance (1) a religious experience. 
The missionary must be a converted man, he must 
know personally what it is to pass from death unto 
life. If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into 
the ditch. He should be a man of prayer and in 
conscious communion with God. His mind must 
be stayed on God, if he would prove a brave and 
worthy ambassador; and he should, as a matter of 
course, have a settled belief in the fundamental 
doctrines of Christianity. One who rejects the 
divine authority and supernatural element of the 
Scriptures, or the divinity and resurrection of 
Christ is not an acceptable candidate. 

(2) He should be a man of good common sense. 
He will have constant occasion in the field to exer- 
cise a calm, clear judgment and to bear himself with 
manliness and dignity. He must be able to see 
things in their true light and right relations, and 
maintain his composure in trying circumstances. 
Common sense saves from disastrous blunders. 

(3) His natural abilities should be such as will 
enable him to become an intelligent and skillful 
workman. He need not have genius; he must have 


GuIDE FoR CANDIDATES. 13 


qualities of mind capable of development through 
educational processes. If he succeeds in college and 
theological seminary he can succeed in the 
Natural mission field. If he cannot master languages 
Abilities. in his classical course he cannot fit himself to 
preach to the heathen in a tongue understood by 
them. Hence facility in the acquisition of lan- 
guage is necessary. Most applicants have passed 
through college. Therefore they know from expe- 
rience what ability they have in linguistic studies. 
The question is frequently raised as to whether the 
study of the language to be used in the field should 
be begun here. The answer is: If it is a field where 
the Spanish or Italian language is to be used, it 
would be desirable to take it up in college. But the 
Oriental languages must be acquired on the field. 
The languages and dialects of China, Japan, and 
Korea require proficiency in tone discrimination, 
and this is only to be acquired by years of instruc- 

tion by a native teacher. 
(4) It is very desirable, though not indispensable 
Mental in all cases, that candidates shall have a 
Training. thorough collegiate education. If one is to 
teach he should have a college degree. If college men 
who are to engage in evangelistic work can also get 
a good theological training, they should do so by all 
means. Time and labor spent in making a thorough 
preparation are not lost. It is a mistake to suppose 
that zeal for the Gospel can take the place of the 
thorough training which our best-equipped institu- 
tions give. As to teachers, some of our missions say 
that it is useless to commission those who have not a 
college degree or its equivalent from a Normal 


School. 


A Sound 


Body. 


14 THe WorK AND THE WORKERS. 


(5) A sound body is indispensable. A life which 
the insurance companies would not accept as a risk 
is not suitable for the mission field. The climate 
in most mission fields, the mode of living, the food 
provided, the unsanitary conditions, coupled 
with the prevailing modes of travel, and the 
constant demands upon the time, sympathies, 
and endurance of the missionary, will break him 
down if his vitality is low, or disease has weakened 
any of the bodily functions. The Society requires 
every applicant to pass an examination by a compe- 


_tent medical examiner employed by it. 


Other 


Points, 


(6) Missionaries must be able to work together 
in peace and harmony. Persons of peculiar tem- 
perament, inclined to be censorious, jealous, moody, 
fretful, willful, should stay at home, where they 
have more room and opportunity to indulge their 
peculiarities. They would be unhappy in the mis- 
sion field and make their brethren unhappy. 

These are the main points to be considered in 
deciding upon a missionary’s qualifications. There 
are others, such as social qualities, human sympa- 

thies, courage and perseverance in the face of 

defeats. The missionary will be hampered in 

his work if socially he is an iceberg, or if 
he looks upon the poor and besotted heathen as upon 
a race of inferior beings, or if he cannot rise above 
the discouragements he is sure to meet. Successful 
missionaries are spiritual-minded, well-balanced, 
thoroughly prepared, sound-bodied, and _ strong- 
hearted people, whose devotion to the cause of God 
makes them valiant soldiers of Jesus Christ, heroes 
on the moral battlefields of the world. 


GuIDE FoR CANDIDATES. 15 


Candidates who are conscious of a strong con- 
viction that they ought to enter the missionary 
service may be, and often are, deterred by a feeling 
of unworthiness and insufficiency. They fear that 
they do not measure up to the high standard of 

Humility ability and consecration to which eminent 

* missionaries have attained. This feeling of 
humility is becoming to those who are entering 
upon a work which is to them new and untried. It 
should not of itself lead to a decision not to offer 
yourself for missionary service. Let others judge 
whether your qualifications are or are not such as 
to justify your appointment. The Committee of 
the Board conducts examinations sympathetically 
and yet carefully, considering not only the answers 
to questions, but also the bearing, manner, appear- 
ance, and spirit of the candidate. 

The question of going to the mission field mar- 
ried or single is constantly raised. There are 
places for both. One who is single is not ex- 

' pected to take the vow of celibacy as a condi- 
Married or tion of acceptance. Sometimes there is a 
Single, demand for a single man where a married man 

could not well be appointed, or where the support 
available is only sufficient for a single man. It is 
often best, therefore, that a missionary should go 
out unmarried, with the understanding that in 
course of a few years the young lady selected as 
his life companion may be sent out, or that he shall 
be free to make an alliance on the field. 

The family ties of the applicant must be a subject 
of consideration. A son or daughter who is the only 
support of a mother, or the only child of infirm 


16 THe WorkK AND THE WORKERS. 


parents who need his or her care; or persons whose 
obligation toward family or relatives might require 
a speedy return from the field; or those burdened 
with debt which must be provided for—these classes 
should not be applicants for appointment. 

His Canpipacy. Having determined in his own 
mind and heart the question of his duty to become 
a missionary, the next step for the intending candi- 
date is to write to the Missionary Secretaries, 150 
Fifth Avenue, New York, and ask for application 
blanks: one for himself, if single; one also 
for his wife, if married, or for his fiancee, if 
engaged. This blank calls for the main facts 
of his life, his birth, age, training, parentage, con- 
version, belief, Christian work, Conference relation, 
call to the mission field, physical condition, state 
in life, and habits with reference to the use of nar- 
cotics and intoxicants. It also ealls for references 
to persons who can inform the Secretaries as to 
the life, character, habits, and abilities of the can- 
didate, and requires a medical certificate as to phy- 
sical condition, simply as a preliminary precaution. 
If the references are satisfactory and there is an 
opening in the field, the candidate will be asked to 
come to New York for examination before the 
Board’s Committee and by the Board’s medical ex- 
aminer. If the examinations are satisfactory and 
the Board approves, the candidate is notified and 
arrangements are made for his outgoing. The ex- 
penses of his trip to New York are paid by the 
Society. His candidacy ended, he becomes a mis- 
sionary under appointment and enters into relations 
with the Missionary Society. 


Application 
Blanks, 


GUIDE FOR CANDIDATES. 17 


ACCEPTANCE OF CanpipaTes. Applicants should 
understand that immediate decision cannot be 
reached as to their acceptance, except in extraor- 
dinary cases. Time to secure references is re- 
quired, and often there must be further delay 
until a vacancy occurs in the force in the particular 
field to which a candidate wishes to go. In the 
nature of the case, the calls for missionaries for 
medical, or publication, or educational service are 
fewer than those for the evangelistic work. Candi- 
dates for either of these branches may have longer 
to wait for an opening, therefore, than those who 
are prepared to preach. Moreover, the Society must 
be allowed to exercise the privilege of selection. 
Where it is impossible to find places for all who ap- 

Shectiin ply it must, with the best light it has, select 

: those who seem most thoroughly fitted for its 
work. Candidates who are not accepted should not 
feel that any reflection upon them is intended or in- 
volved in their nonacceptance. As it is uncertain in 
most cases when opportunity for appointment may 
come, applicants should not give up pastoral charges 
or business positions until the question of their 
acceptance and departure for the field is settled. 
Applications are welcomed, and the Corresponding 
Secretaries will always be glad to see candidates per- 
sonally, or answer any questions by letter which they 
may wish to ask. 


Il. Tue Boarp or Foreicn Missions. 


“The Board of Foreign Missions of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church,” in the words of the missionary 


18 Tue WorkK AND THE WORKERS. 


manual, “is the Church itself in a corporate form, for 
the purpose of establishing and supporting Chris- 
tian missions in foreign lands.” Its field is the 

world outside the United States. Under its 


Its auspices many foreign missions are con- 

Origin. ducted. Its headquarters are in the Book 
Concern and Mission Building, on Fifth Avenue 
and Twentieth Street, New York city. It was or- 
ganized as the Missionary Society in 1819, its first 
mission being among the French in Louisiana. 

I Its first foreign mission was begun in Africa 

ts : aeae 

Miss; in 1833. It now has missions abroad as 

sions. 


follows: 

Africa: Liberia (1833), West Central Africa, East 
Central Africa. 

America: South America (1836), Andes, North 
Andes, Mexico (1873). 

Eastern Asia: Foochow (1847), Hinghua, North 
China, Central China, West China, Japan 
(1872), South Japan, Korea (1885). 

Southern Asia (1856): North India, Northwest In- 
dia, South India, Bombay, Bengal, Central 
Provinces, Burma, Malaysia, Philippine Islands. 

Europe (1849): North Germany, South Germany, 
Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Fin- 
land and St. Petersburg, Bulgaria, Italy, France. 

In all, thirty-four missions. 

The Board of Foreign Missions works under a 
constitution created for it by the General Confer- 
ence, to which it makes report quadrennially and 
to which it is amenable. 

The Constitution provides for a General Mis- 
sionary Committee, composed of Bishops, Corre- 


GUIDE FOR CANDIDATES. 19 


sponding and Recording Secretaries, Treasurers, a 
representative from each of the fourteen General 
Conference Districts, and fourteen representatives 
elected by the Board; and for a Board of Mana- 
gers, consisting of the Bishops and of thirty-two min- 
isters and thirty-two laymen elected by the General 


The Com- Conference. The General Committee, which 
mittee and meets annually, determines what fields shall be 
the Board. occupied as missionsand the amounts necessary 


How 


Appointed. 


to be set apart for the support of each. The Board 
of Managers meets on the third Tuesday of each 
month, and has in its charge the administration of 
the affairs of the Society. A Corresponding Secre- 
tary and a First Assistant Corresponding Secretary, 
elected by the General Conference, supervise the 
missionary work of the Church in foreign lands, 
under the direction of the Board of Managers. The 
General Conference also elects a Treasurer and an 
Assistant Treasurer. The Recording Secretary 
keeps the minutes of the Board and performs other 
important duties. All drafts for missionary appro- 
priations are drawn by the Corresponding Secretaries 
upon the Treasurer of the Board of Foreign Missions. 

Missionaries who are members of Annual Confer- 
ences are appointed and sent to foreign fields by the 
concurrent action of Bishops and the Board; mis- 
sionaries who are not members of Annual Confer- 
ences are appointed and sent out by the Board. 
Those and only those appointed or accepted by 
the Board are considered as foreign mission- 
aries. Persons received into Conferences on the 
field do not by that action become missionaries, but 
only by express acceptance by the Board. 


20 Tue WorkK AND THE WORKERS. 


The missionary candidate having been accepted 
by the Board for appointment looks henceforth to 
the Board, through its Corresponding Secretaries, 
for traveling expenses to the field, for support on 
the field, and for permission to return home on fur- 
lough, or to leave the mission for any purpose. On 
the field he receives his appointment, year by year, 
from the Bishop in charge, and his salary is paid him, 
usually in advance, by the treasurer of the mission. 


Tue Misstonary’s Support. The salaries of mis- 
sionaries are fixed by the Board and paid out of 
the appropriations to the field in which they are in 
service, by the mission treasurer. Salaries, which 
are rated and paid on a gold basis, vary in different 
countries according to the cost of living. In the 
missions in Southern Asia the scale is as follows: 


“A, For the first five years of service, and for so 

many years thereafter as he is unable to use 

Scale of ‘ ‘ ; , 

Saiiee the native language efficiently in his work, a 
* married man shall receive $950, a single man, 
$650 (yearly). 

“B. For the next ten years after the first five, if 
he has mastered a native language so as to use it 
efficiently in his work, the salary shall be, for a 
married man, $1,000; for a single man, $700 (a 
year) ; provided, however, that the language require- 
ment shall not be applied to missionaries who at 
this time (1904) have been five years or more in the 
foreign field. 

“©. For the next ten years after the first fifteen, 
the salary shall be, for a married man, $1,100, and 
for a single man, $800 (a year). 


GUIDE FOR CANDIDATES. oT 


“D. After twenty-five years in the foreign mission 
field, the salary shall be, for a married man, $1,200, 
and for a single man, $900 (a year). 

“Allowance for children shall be: 

“For each child fourteen years and under, $100 
per year. 

“For each child over fourteen and under twenty- 
one years of age, if dependent upon the parents, 
$100 per year. 

“But in case the child of an American missionary, 
between the age of fourteen and twenty-one, is in 
attendance at a school in the United States which 
is under the authority of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, or is approved by the Board of Managers, 
the allowance shall be $150 per year during such 
years as he or she is in actual attendance on such 
school.” 

In Eastern Asia the salaries are somewhat higher 
and in Africa and in the nonheathen countries the 
salaries paid vary from the above schedule. 

Home salaries of missionaries from all fields are 
as follows: 

“Married missionaries: For the first five years, 

$950; after fifteen years, $1,000. Allowances 
Home $900; for the next ten after the first five years, 
Salaries. = oy children, the same as on the field. 

“Single missionaries: For the first five years, $600; 
for the next ten after the first five years, $650; for 
the next ten after the first fifteen years, $700; after 
twenty-five years, $800.” Rent allowance may be 
paid to married missionaries at home on furlough, 
if they actually occupy a rented house. 


92 Tue Work AND THE WORKERS. 


EXPENSES TO AND FROM THE FieLp. Necessary 
traveling expenses, including railroad and steam- 
ship tickets, sleeping accommodations on trains, 
meals en route, and hotel bills, with express charges 
on baggage and charges for freight, are paid by the 
Society. The route chosen should be the most di- 
Bees rect. Candidates may, however, make detours, 
of Travel. within reasonable distances, for farewell visits 

to parents and brothers and sisters. Payments 
for freight are limited as follows: Three cubic tons 
(measure) for each missionary going to the field for 
the first time, or finally returning there from, and 
one half cubie ton for each child; for missionaries 
returning from the field on furlough, or going to 
the field after furlough, one cubic ton for each mis- 
sionary and one half cubic ton for each child. A 
cubic ton is forty cubic feet. A chest five feet long, 
four feet wide, and two feet high would measure a 
cubic ton. Pianos and organs, if taken, must be 
taken at the expense of the missionary. 

When the candidate has passed his examinations 
and been accepted or appointed by the Board, and 
an agreement reached with one of the Corresponding 
Secretaries as to the month when he shall sail, he 
should enter into correspondence with the Recording 
Secretary of the Board as to the exact time of his de- 
parture, so that steamship passage may be secured 
and arrangements made for reduced rates on the 
railroads. It is important that from four to six 
weeks or more should be allowed for attention to 
these details. Suitable accommodations on steam- 
ers need to be engaged several weeks before the time 
of sailing. Forms of expense accounts will be fur- 


GUIDE FoR CANDIDATES. 23 


nished on application. These contain the necessary 
instructions for keeping the account, and making 
report. 

PROVISIONS ON THE Fretp. Married missionaries 
on the field are provided with houses to live in, 
either belonging to the Society or rented. The So- 
ciety also provides heavy furniture, such as stoves, 

chairs, tables, bedsteads, etc. Missionaries will 

need to take with them from this country, as 
far as possible, supplies of bedding, table service, 
linen, ete. It is also wise for them, especially 
women, to provide a moderate supply of clothing, ex- 
cept those going to India. Books which will be neces- 
sary on the field should be included in the outfit. 

As To Furtoucus. Experience has shown that it 
is necessary for missionaries to return occasionally 
to the United States for rest, recuperation, change 
of scene, visitation of relatives and friends, and re- 
newals of associations with the home country and 
the home Church. No definite period of service on 
the field has been fixed by the Board of Managers. 
Requests for furloughs should come to the Corre- 

sponding Secretaries through the Finance 
How Committee of the several missions with a suc- 
Obtained. cinct statement of the reasons for asking for 
them, particularly if there has been less than ten 
years of service on the field since last leaving the 
United States. These requests should always be 
presented to the mission Finance Committee in time 
to be considered in making up the estimates for the 
ensuing financial year, which begins January 1. It 
should be distinctly understood that the Society en- 
ters into no agreement to give missionaries, as some 


Outfit. 


The 


Fields, 


24 Tus Work AND THE WORKERS. 


have understood, furloughs at the end of five or 
seven or any other term of years. It believes that 
missionaries ought to come home, as a rule, once in 
about ten years; but reserves to itself the right to 
deal with every case on its merits. It does not with- 
hold its consent to an earlier return where, in special 
cases, condition of health or urgent family reasons 
seem to require it. The missionary is in no case at 
liberty to leave the field without permission. 


IV. Tue Misstonary FIEetp. 


Our foreign missions are found in every quarter 
of the globe. We occupy portions of every continent. 
In Asia we are represented in India, Burma, 
Malaysia, Borneo, Java, Sumatra, the Philip- 
pines, China, Japan, and Korea. 

In Africa—in Liberia, the Madeira Islands, An- 
gola, Portuguese East Africa, and Rhodesia. 

In Europe—in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, 
Hungary, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Russia (Fin- 
land), Bulgaria, Italy, and France. 

In North America—in Mexico. 

In South America—in Argentina, Uruguay, Para- 
guay, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and 
Panama. 

The populations of these fields amount to an ag- 
gregate of about 1,040,000,000, or two thirds of the 
entire population of the world, distributed as follows: 
In Mexico, in Peru, Chile, Bolivia. 

Argentina, ete., in South America... 46,402,433 
In Africa (Liberia, Angola, East 

Atpica tet; ) sc. thy dale nes 8 eis erate 10,866,736 


GUIDE FoR CANDIDATES. 25 


In Europe (Germany, Scandinavia, 

Finland, Switzerland, Italy, ete.).... 153,142,000 
In India, Malaysia, Borneo, Java, Su- 

matra, and the Philippines.......... 336,962,215 
In China, Japan, Korea........+++2+-+ 493,865,168 


1,040,000,000 


It should not be inferred that we are actually 
and fully reaching these vast populations; we are 
working among them in the several countries to 
which they belong. 

Religious Roughly dividing these 1,040,000,000 accord- 

: ing to their religious beliefs, we get the follow- 
Beliefs, F 

ing result: 

Protestant countries in Europe........ 76,812,000 
Roman Catholic countries in Europe, 

Philippines, Mexico, and South 

FATNOPICATS Chic ctleia HORS eee eleven ey « 127,000,000 
Eastern Christians, Bulgaria.......... 3,154,875 
Buddhist, Confucian, Taoist (China).. 433,000,000 
Buddhist, Taoist, Shinto (Japan)...... 47,000,000 
Buddhist, Confucian, Shaman (Korea). 12,000,000 
Hindu, Moslem, Buddhist, ete. (India), 

Malaysia, Borneo, Philippines....... 326,000,000 
Moslem, Pagan (Africa)..........00s+ 10,000,000 
Christians in Asia and Africa......... 5,100,000 


Of these we may say that about 212,000,000, in 
round numbers, may be classed as Christian, 65,- 
000,000 or 70,000,000 as Moslem, and 755,060,000 or 
760,000,000 as idolatrous heathen. 

Our missionaries in endeavoring to reach these 
vast populations have to speak many languages. In 





26 THe WorK AND THE WORKERS. 


Mexico they use the English and Spanish; in South 
America, English, Spanish, Italian, German, 


Languages. and Portuguese; in Africa, English, Portu- 


The 


Chinese 


guese, Sheetswa, Tonga, Kimbundu, and other native 
dialects; in Japan and Korea, English, Japanese, 
and Korean; in China, English, Mandarin, Foochow, 
Hinghua, Amoy; in India, English, Hindustani, 
Hindi-Urdu, Kanarese, Mahratti, Gujerati, Tamil, 
Telugu, Bengali, Punjabi, Garhwali, Shorali, Chi- 
nese, Malay, and many other dialects; in the Philip- 
pines, English, Spanish, Tagalog, and other native 
dialects; in Borneo, Chinese and Dyak; in Europe, 
German, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, 
French, Italian, and Bulgarian. 

The most difficult languages to acquire are, of 
course, those of the Asiatic fields. The Chinese was, 
in the early days of Protestant missions, considered 
well-nigh impossible to the foreigner to master. Mr. 
Milne said to learn it required “men with bodies of 
brass, lungs of steel, heads of oak, hands of spring 
steel, eyes of eagles, hearts of the apostles, memo- 
ries of angels, and lives of Methuselah.” But mod- 
ern missionaries find that it can be mastered with 
sufficient determination and application, and that, 
too, by ordinary men, the facilities for learning it 
having been vastly increased. It is taught now 
in a series of progressive lessons. The Man- 
darin is the official language of the Empire and 


Language. i, spoken and understood in nearly all of the 


twenty-one provinces, and is used in three of our five 
missions, namely, North, Central, and West, in 
which we have work in seven provinces. In our two 
missions in the Province of Fukien the Foochow, 


GUIDE FOR CANDIDATES. oF 


Hinghua, and Amoy dialects are spoken. The 
Chinese language has no alphabet, and is monosy]l- 
labic. Some 2,200 characters need to be learned to 
read the New Testament, and 4,400 to read the whole 
Bible. 

When Bishop Thoburn first went to India he was 
congratulated on the fact that all our work was 
among people speaking the same language. As our 

mission has enlarged and spread from province 


Ee to province and crossed into Burma, and into 
a ie the Straits Settlements and also to the Philip- 


pines and even into Borneo, the number of lan- 
guages required has increased to more than thirty. 
Hindustani is the most widely spoken language in 
India, being understood by 100,000,000 or more. It 
is used most extensively in North and Northeast 
India; the Hindi-Urdu, also used in North India, is 
the language of the Moslem population; in the west 
and northwest Mahratti, Gujerati, and Punjabi are 
spoken; in the east Bengali, and in the south, Kan- 
arese, Tamil, Telugu. Garhwali and Shorali are 
among the numerous hill dialects. 

In Malaysia, we have work in English, in Tamil, 
in Malay, and in the Hakka, Cantonese, Amoy, 
Hinghua, and Tiechew dialects of the Chinese. 

Tue Cumate. Much of the territory covered by 
our foreign missions is in the torrid zone. In much 
of India and in South China tropical heat is a fea- 
ture of the summer. This is also true of Liberia and 
Angola in Africa, and of Peru, Bolivia, and Chile in 
South America, and of Mexico. 

India has great varieties of climate. In the Him- 
alayan region, on the plateaus, the cold often is most 


28 Ture Work AND THE WORKERS. 


intense; in the Straits Settlements equatorial heat 
is a constant factor of the weather. There are 
three seasons in India—the hot, the wet, and 
the cold. The first extends from March to 
June, the second from June to October, and the last 
from October to March. In China, even as far north 
as Peking, where the cold of winter is severe, the 
summer heat is intense. The southern provinces, 
including Fukien, in which we have two missions, 
are below the twenty-eighth parallel of latitude and 
have the characteristics of tropical climate. The 
temperature of summer in Japan is modified by the 
sea. In South America, Bolivia, and Peru and part 
of Chile have high temperatures, which are mod- 
erated in places by high altitudes and proximity to 
the sea. Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay, on the 
east coast, have about the same variety of climate as 
that part of the United States lying between New 
York and Key West. The mountainous section of 
Mexico enjoys a pleasant summer. 

Carr oF HEattH. Some men and women, particu- 
larly the robust and vigorous, are careless or thought- 
less in matters of health. It cannot be too strongly 
impressed upon the minds and consciences of young 
missionaries that they owe it to the Board of 
Foreign Missions, in whose cause they are enlisted, 
and to God, whose servants they are, to give care and 
thought to the preservation of their health. Those 
who go to tropical countries cannot be too careful in 
avoiding (1) exposure to the sun in the heat of the 
day, (2) getting wet in sudden rainstorms, (3) the 
eating of unripe fruits or rich foods. The process 
of acclimatization is a slow one and should not be 


Asiatic 
Climate. 


GUIDE FoR CANDIDATES. 29 


forced. After the physical system is adjusted to the 
new country, the new diet, and the new system of 
living, things can be done which are unsafe for the 
stranger. 


V. Tue Missionary SERVICE 


There can be no nobler service than that to which 
the earnest Christian missionary devotes himself— 
the elevation of the masses of mankind by showing 
them that God is the true object of worship, and lov- 
ing obedience to Him, the lever which lifts men to 
the highest plane of moral, spiritual, and intellectual 
life. If the service seems difficult, dangerous, and ex- 
acting, involving more of privation than most other 
kinds of noble employment, it is not, after all, for 

ANoble 2 hard and unthankful Master, nor without 
Cee the promise of reward. “And every one,” Jesus 
7 said, “that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, 
or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, 
or lands for my sake, shall receive an hundredfold, 
and shall inherit everlasting life.” Those who have 
gone out into strange lands and labored for the king- 
dom of Christ, giving up careers at home, putting 
away ambitions for honors in their own country, 
have found a career that is noble and satisfying and 
honors which are sweet and lasting. 

One who had himself enjoyed the highest honors 
which this great republic can confer, the Hon. Ben- 
jamin Harrison, President of the United States, 
gave this estimate of the cause to which the mission- 
ary devotes his life: 

“The highest conception that ever entered the 
mind of man is that of God as the Father of all men 


30 Tue Work AND THE WorKERS. 


—the one blood, the universal brotherhood. It was 

not evolved but revealed. The natural man lives to 

be ministered unto—he lays his imposts upon others. 

He buys slaves that they may fan him to sleep, 

bring him the jeweled cup, dance before him, and die 

in the arena for his sport. Into such a world there 

came a King, not to be ministered unto, but to min- 

ister. The rough winds fanned His sleep; He drank 

The Great of the mountain brook and made not the water 

wine for Himself; He would not use His power 

Cause. to stay His own hunger, but had compassion 

on the multitude. Them that He had bought with a 

great price He called no more servants, but friends. 

He entered the bloody arena alone and, dying, broke 

all chains and brought life and immortality to life. 

Here is the perfect altruism, here the true ap- 

praisal of men. Ornaments of gold and gems, silken 

robes, houses, lands, stocks, and bonds—these are 

tare when men are weighed. Where else is there a 

scale so true? Where a brotherhood so wide and 

perfect? Labor is made noble—the King credits the 

smallest service. His values are relative; He takes 

account of the per cent when the tribute is brought 

into His treasury. No coin of love is base or 

small to Him. The widow’s mite He sets in His 
crown.” 

Another statesman and soldier of equal eminence, 
the Hon. William McKinley, President of the 
United States, paid on the same great occasion—the 
opening of the Ecumenical Missionary Conference 
of 1900—this tribute to the missionary: 

“The services and sacrifices of the missionaries 
for their fellow-men constitute one of the most glo- 


GuInE FoR CANDIDATES. 31 


rious pages of the world’s history. The missionary 
of whatever Church or ecclesiastical body, who de- 
votes his life to the service of the Master and of 
men, carrying the torch of truth and enlightenment, 
deserves the gratitude, the support, and the homage 
of mankind. The noble, self-effacing, willing min- 
isters of peace and good will should be classed with 
the world’s heroes. 

“Wielding the sword of the Spirit, they have con- 
quered ignorance and prejudice. They have il- 
lumined the darkness of idolatry and superstition 

with the light of intelligence and truth. They 


‘a y have been messengers of righteousness and 
feted love. They have braved disease and danger and 


death, and in their exile have suffered severe 
hardships, but their noble spirits have never wa- 
vered. They count their labor no sacrifice. ‘Away 
with the word in such a view and such a thought,’ 
says David Livingstone, ‘it is emphatically no sac- 
rifice; say, rather, it is a privilege.’ They furnish 
us examples of forbearance and fortitude, of patience 
and unyielding purpose, and of spirit which tri- 
umphs not by force of might, but by the persua- 
sive majesty of right. They are placing in the hands 
of their brothers less fortunate than themselves the 
keys which unlock the treasures of knowledge and 
open the mind to noble aspirations for better con- 
ditions. . . . Who can estimate their value to the 
progress of nations? Their contribution to the on- 
ward and upward march of humanity is beyond all 
calculation. They have inculeated industry and 
taught the various trades. They have promoted con- 
cord and amity, and brought nations and races closer 


Kinds of 
Service, 


What 


they do. 


32 Tue Work AND THE WORKERS. 


together. They have made men better. They have 
increased the regard for home, have strengthened 
the sacred ties of family; have made the community 
well-ordered, and their work has been a potent in- 
fluence in the development of law and the estab- 
lishment of government.” 

It remains to add a few words as to the kinds of 
service upon which the missionary enters in the 
field. These are usually divided thus: 1. Evangel- 
istic; 2. Educational; 3. Medical; 4. Publica- 
tion; 5. Industrial. These are more or less dis- 
tinet branches of the work, and yet the work is 
one, and whether the missionary preach, or teach, or 
heal, or print, or plow, his purpose is one and the 
same, to bring men and women to a knowledge of the 
one God and Father Almighty, of His Son Jesus 
Christ, the Saviour of men, and of the Holy Ghost 
the sanctifier. No teacher or physician or printer is 
accepted for any of our mission fields who is not him- 
self a true disciple of Christ and has not the distinct 
purpose to use every opportunity in his work as 
teacher, healer, or printer, of making the Gospel 
known and inducing scholars, patients, or readers to 
accept Christ. 

EVANGELISTS are simply ministers who give their 
time to the work of preaching. They have circuits 
or districts, often with native preachers and workers 
under their supervision. They not only preach, 
but they organize churches, baptize converts, 
and look after the development of Christian 
communities. They are expected to learn the native 
language as soon as possible, that they may speak 
to the people direct without the aid of an inter- 


GUIDE FoR CANDIDATES. By} 


preter. Those who have had a thorough theological 
training and have had practice in preaching have 
very desirable qualifications for this branch of the 
service. 

TEACHERS in our schools of various grades, from 
the kindergarten to the university, perform the same 
duties as teachers in similar institutions in this 
country and need the same qualifications. Educa- 
tion is occupying more and more attention in 


apr foreign mission work, and institutions of all 
Roered: grades have been multiplying with amazing 


rapidity in the last twenty years. Those in- 
tending to offer themselves as educational mission- 
aries should get a good collegiate education, by all 
means, and if they could take some postgraduate 
work in further special preparation, it would add to 
their efficiency. It is a mistake to suppose that one 
who could not hold a place in a high school or semi- 
nary at home could do higher or even similar work 
abroad. 

Mepicau Misstonartes. We have medical mission- 
aries in Mexico, Africa, China, and Korea, but do 
not send any to Japan or South America. We have 
one hospital in India, and the Woman’s Foreign Mis- 
sionary Society has one, both in North India. 
Medical missionaries should be graduates of 
medical schools of good standing and should 
have a year or more in hospital practice. Particular 
attention should be given to surgery, and to the study 
of the prevalent diseases of Oriental lands, including 
ophthalmia, cutaneous and intestinal complaints. 
Medical missionaries receive the same support as 
other missionaries. 


Training of 
Physicians. 


34 THE Work AND THE WORKERS. 


Printers. In all our missions the press is of great 
importance. Literature—periodical, tract, and book 
—needs to be prepared and printed to deepen and 

The Press. extend the influence of preaching and teach- 
ing and especially to develop in the native 
converts a more intelligent and stable Christian life. 
Practical printers, who understand all branches of 
the trade, are needed from time to time in our vari- 
ous missions. If they combine with this knowledge 
capacity to keep accounts, to teach or to preach, they 
are sure to be all the more useful. 

While the missionary should be especially prepared 
to serve in some one of these departments, it is very 
desirable that he should be able to combine, if 

Able todo necessary, duties falling within the lines of 

Many two or more of them. One missionary in Asia 

Things, is superintendent of a mission, preaches, 
teaches, and looks after the press. For a period 
he combined with these duties that of treasurer and 
kept the accounts of the mission. Another mission- 
ary looks after a hospital, preaches, teaches, super- 
intends building operations, and is treasurer and 
accountant. The missionary should be able to do 
one thing effectively, and many things well. 

The life of the missionary is indeed a busy one, 
and if a candidate is afraid of work, and would con- 
sult his ease and bodily comfort, he should not set 
his face toward the mission field. Such a man would 
find no important place open to him anywhere. 





ee ee eel 

y 4 la? & 
- Moree 
Pes ee 


sS 


Sate 
eam) = : 








a 
oo 


ty 
Bence 
= 


. % = 





